 Statue of Liberty at night. Liberty Island in New York. June 15, 2017 The United States was founded upon the great and costly stone of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 1 Kings 5:17 And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house. "Inspiring" – in one word, that is how I could describe my trip to New York for my nephew’s graduation from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point. Standing on our feet with hands on heart as the National Athem played; current and veteran members of each branch of the Armed Forces standing for recognition as their branch’s song filled the stadium; my dad watching his grandson graduate from the same academy from which he graduated 45 years prior; a retired U.S. Marine administering the oath of enlistment to his son the day before Father’s Day; and the sight of Lady Liberty standing tall in the night. All inspiring. The United States of America is the greatest country to have ever stood on this earth throughout all of history! The story of America is an inspiring story. The lives of the Founders are wrought with inspiration. But what inspired the Founders? What inspired them to risk all, including their lives, to establish this great nation and its freedoms? That point is argued and debated by many, but what were their own words?
"When we view the blessings with which our country has been favored, those which we now enjoy, and the means which we possess of handing them down unimpaired to our latest posterity, our attention is irresistibly drawn to the source from whence they flow. Let us then, unite in offering our most grateful acknowledgments for these blessings to the Divine Author of All Good." James Monroe, 5th United States President "While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian." George Washington "Patriotism is as much a virtue as justice and is as necessary for the support of societies as natural affection is for the support of families. [Patriotism] is both a moral and religious duty…What did not Moses forsake and suffer for his countrymen! What shining examples of Patriotism do we behold in Joshua, Samuel, Maccabeus, and all the illustrious princes, captains, and prophets amongst the Jews! St. Paul himself almost wishes himself accursed for his countrymen and kinsmen after the flesh. Even our Savior Himself gives a sanction to this virtue. He confined His miracles and gospel at first to His own country." On Patriotism, October 20, 1773. Benjamin Rush. “Heaven has crowned all its other blessings, by giving [America] a fairer opportunity for political happiness, than any other Nation has ever been favored with.” George Washington, Circular Address to the States, June 8th, 1783
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 William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus, carrion crow perched on rotten Sweetgum tree snag, blue sky background. Athens, Georgia, USA.
Partly sunny with high near 88° 
 William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Baby North American Opossum caught in box trap. Didelphis virginianus. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia USA. Wednesday, 2:58 PM - Opossum in your bedroom? That’s just part of life in the south. Okay, maybe not for everyone. But when you work for animal control, it seems that way. I don’t know what it is about mobile homes that seems to attract wildlife and stray cats. Perhaps it is all those “tidy” human beings concentrated in one area. The little critters just want to be part of the group love action too! One particular young fellow was making surprise appearances here and there over a week. Normally, animal control would refer the caller to a nuisance wildlife company. But this older lady needed a little assistance. Junior was caught in a trap after a couple of days, came to the shelter for a photo shoot, and was released. After removing him from the trap, I placed him on a low branch for close up photos. But the little guy shimmied up the tree in no time flat. Sitting up about 20 feet in the air, I had to get out my telephoto lens for the session. Cute little guy! Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)  Baby North American Opossum climbing pine tree. Didelphis virginianus. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia USA.  Baby North American Opossum caught in box trap. Didelphis virginianus. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia USA.  Baby North American Opossum climbing pine tree. Didelphis virginianus. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia USA.  Baby North American Opossum climbing pine tree. Didelphis virginianus. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia USA.  William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Baby Eastern Bluebird songbird fledgling sitting in birdhouse. Athens, Georgia, USA. Sialia sialis Tuesday, 5:58 PM - Throughout the month of June the Eastern Bluebirds have been raising a second clutch of the season. I’ve watched the diligent parents making runs to and from the nest box all day long; bringing bugs, removing waste. Going out to grill some kabobs, I saw a brave fledgling peering out through the nest box hole. He kept a curious eye on me. I kept my distance and in about 20 minutes he gained the courage to come out of the box to the lip under the door. In another move of bravery, he flapped his wings, but didn’t make it far. He half-flew, half stumbled over to the ledge between the birdhouses. I left him sitting there with mom making frequent chirps from a distance while I went inside to enjoy the kabab. Upon coming back out, he was gone. I couldn’t find him on the ground around the turtle pond. So I’m hoping he flew off to a safe place. Athens, Georgia  Baby Eastern Bluebird songbird fledgling sitting by birdhouse. Athens, Georgia, USA. Sialia sialis  Baby Eastern Bluebird songbird fledgling sitting in birdhouse. Athens, Georgia, USA. Sialia sialis  William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Female Eastern Towhee songbird bathing in bird bath. Athens, Georgia, USA. Pipilo erythrophthalmus Sunday, 7:11 AM – we are finally seeing a sunrise rather than the totally overcast and rainy skies of the last few days. There is so much bird activity in the backyard. The “usuals” are all there: Chickaees, Titmice, Cardinals, House Sparrows… But I keep hearing a different, higher pitched chirping of several birds in the Black Cherry tree. It is hard to get a good look with such quick flurrying in the leaves, but I see some black and white. Is it the Chickadees? But they’ve never sounded like that before. Finally, and just for a quick moment, one lands on the swingset. Obviously some sort of warbler that I haven’t seen before. Getting my Birds of Georgia book, the first little bird in the black and white section is, aptly named, the Black and White Warbler (Mniotilta varia). Cornell’s website says: the Black-and-white Warbler’s thin, squeaky song is one of the first signs that spring birding has sprung. This crisply striped bundle of black and white feathers creeps along tree trunks and branches like a nimble nuthatch, probing the bark for insects with its slightly downcurved bill. Though you typically see these birds only in trees, they build their little cup-shaped nests in the leaf litter of forests across central and eastern North America. To confirm my identification, I emailed Katy with Oconee Rivers Audubon Society. She replied: "Yep, the one and only! One of my favorite birds. They migrate here in spring and stick around until late summer, then they're gone. We do have occasional over-wintering birds, but I'd say seeing one on your feeder is a nice treat! Their song is like a squeaky wheel, unlike anything I've ever heard from a bird!" A new one for my photo lifelist! I’ll have to sit and try for a better shot soon. A bit later I was privileged to spy in on a female Eastern Towhee taking a bath in our birdbath. Athens, Georgia  William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Red-bellied Woodpecker Saturday, 10:50 AM – a young doe has been boldly entering my backyard quite regularly lately. She is less and less spooked by our presence and movements. This morning, she remained unalarmedly grazing as my wife and I sat and talked over a cup of coffee on the back patio. She appears to be eating the grasses that grow from the spilled bird seed. She has also at times boldly wandered over to eat spilled seed underneath the feeders even when the dogs next door begin to bark. As she grazed, another critter, never lacking in boldness, visited the feeder. A boldly colored black, white and red Red-bellied Woodpecker hangs from the feeder. His bold calls always echo throughout my backyard and surrounding woods. Athens, Georgia
 William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  American Green Tree Frog, Hyla cinerea, a common tree frog of the Southeast United States. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA Wednesday, 4:04 PM – I probably pass through the kennels nearly 100 times per day. On a couple of occasions, I spotted a cute little American Green Tree Frog hanging around near the drain of one of the old, unoccupied dog runs. I’m not sure how he got in the building, but couldn’t quite catch him to put him back outside. After a couple of weeks, the little guy got so famished and thin that he was slow enough to catch. Before releasing him, I had to do what I love: get a glamour shot! American Green Tree Frogs (Hyla cinerea) are very common here in the southeastern United States. They provide a wonderful background chorus to humid, back patio summer nights in Georgia. In fact, they are the “state amphibian” here in Georgia! Walton County, Georgia  American Green Tree Frog, Hyla cinerea, a common tree frog of the Southeast United States. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA  American Green Tree Frog, Hyla cinerea, a common tree frog of the Southeast United States. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA  American Green Tree Frog, Hyla cinerea, a common tree frog of the Southeast United States. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA  American Green Tree Frog, Hyla cinerea, a common tree frog of the Southeast United States. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA  American Green Tree Frog, Hyla cinerea, a common tree frog of the Southeast United States. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA 
Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.   Statue of Liberty at night. Libertas, the Roman goddess. Torch. Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. Thursday,9:26 PM - My nephew graduated from Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday, June 17, and we made the trip to celebrate. My family and I left Georgia on Wednesday, and after two days of driving, which included an additional three hours of delay slowly trudging through backed up traffic around D.C. and the Bronx, we finally arrived at our hotel, quickly changed clothes and ran to train station. Our destination was Pier 81 in Manhattan for an evening cruise on the Hudson and East Rivers. After a wide-eyed walk through Penn Station and a nerve wracking Uber ride, we finally got to the pier and boarded a small dinner cruise ship. The boat made several passes by the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and afforded great views of the New York City skyline, which became especially brilliant and colorful the sun set and the city became aglow. New York wasn’t my speed (it was about 100 mph too fast for me!) and I was happy to head back home to Georgia. But the city was wonderful to see. And my nephew’s military school graduation was quite inspiring. He is now off to the Navy for several years!  Statue of Liberty at night. Libertas, the Roman goddess. Torch. Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States   
 William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Tuesday, 2:57 PM - Spring and summer months bring frequent, urgent calls across the 911 radio system for snakes inside people’s homes. One particular snake was quite large and worth some photography.  Animal Control Officer Nancy Hall was called out to a Church Street home in Monroe, Georgia by a frantic woman that had a snake in her kitchen. When she arrived, ACO Hall found this long, thick Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis) stretched all the way across the kitchen table! They are typically about 3 to 4 feet long, but this one was every bit of six feet, if not a foot longer. The two bulbous lumps in his belly showed he had just enjoyed a meal of some sort.  Black Rat Snakes make up about 90% of the snake calls we receive at Walton County Animal Control. Except for giving you a heart attack, they are completely harmless to people. They love to eat birds and birds eggs straight out of the nests. Therefore, they are agile climbers and can scale the side of a sheer brick home or straight up a tree’s bark. The babies and juveniles have a beautiful, distinct black and gray pattern that fades to black as the snake ages. The pattern can sometimes be faintly seen on the adults as well.  This big boy must have had a long life and story to tell. There were several scars along his girth. He was also quite the feisty fellow… perhaps that is how he survived a long life. At one point during the photoshoot, as he tried to slither off the stump into the leaf litter, I gained a stinging strike to my hand as he sunk his teeth into my fingers as I grabbed him mid-body. I released him in the woods behind the shelter after his photo session to continue his happy, rat-eating life. Walton County, Georgia  
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In December 1993 I came to know the Designer and Creator of this wonderful planet and its creatures: Jesus Christ.
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